~ Nationality: France ~
Inside and Out by Anna-May Laugher
A new film by Helen Dewbery using a text by the French-British poet Anna-May Laugher, with music by Kevin MacLeod. According to the credits, it was “created as part of a elephantsfootprint workshop led by Helen Dewbery and Chaucer Cameron with thanks to Hilda Sheehan for inviting us to be part of Poetry Swindon”. For more on Elephant’s Footprint, see their website and Vimeo page.
À une passante / To a Passer-By by Charles Baudelaire
An illustrative, atmospheric take on Baudelaire’s poem by the Sicilian London-based independent filmmaker Luana Di Pasquale, with William Aggeler’s English translation in subtitles. The Vimeo description reads:
This short depicts in 1 min. and 30 sec. Charles Baudelaire’s Poem – ‘A Passer-By’ from ‘The Flowers of Evil’ collection – an European Classic which was first published in 1857. This French poem describes the moment when the Poet meets the eyes of a Mourning Woman in Paris’s Flea Market. In our adaptation – the poem is set in London’s Soho where the Poet meets the fugitive eyes of a Sex-Worker, played by actress Lidja Zovkic.
This adaptated version of Charles’s Baudlaire’s poem was inspired by Bunuel’s film ‘Belle de Jour’ and its music by the avant-garde composer Edgard Varèse with a few film noir’s notes Produced/Directed by Luana Di Pasquale. Edited/VFX by Massi Guelfi.Original music by Matthias Kispert.
Tu t’es toujours trompé (You’ve always been wrong) by René Daumal
Being aware is not a still state,
it’s an act.
If you think about that
when you’re part of a crowd,
you’ll see yourself surrounded by sleepwalkers.
René Daumal was a “French spiritual para-surrealist writer and poet” (Wikipedia), here adapted to video by Katia Viscogliosi and Francis M., A.K.A. Derviches Associés, in a piece that was included in the 6th ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival (October 2012, Berlin) and the “Cinéma fragile” installation at Lyon International Contemporary Art Biennial, Résonance (November 2011).
Be Drunk (Enivrez-vous) / Bądźcie Pijani by Charles Baudelaire
https://vimeo.com/85184160
A Polish-language videopoem with English subtitles (sorry, French people) by Gaba Sibilska, who says in the Vimeo description:
It’s an attempt to re-interprate Charles Baudelaire’s poem in a way that fits in our world – world of young people. It’s the inevitable future that frightens the youth. In the juvenile joy of life and affirmation of fun, one can find denial, lies, fear, despair, a desperate attempt to escape from the reality. Eventually, though, every young person must realize that however change of perception may ease the fear, it has no affect on time. And no matter how distant it seems, the end of carefree youth will come one day…
Le Chat / The Cat by Charles Baudelaire
A trilingual filmpoem (subtitles in English and German; voiceover in French) by German filmmaker Patrick Müller.
L’éternité / Eternity by Arthur Rimbaud
A silent filmpoem with trilingual titling by the German filmmaker Patrick Müller. The film was shot in Dinard, Brittany, according to the credits. The description at Vimeo says: “Salutary breaks and changes are the topic of Arthur Rimbaud’s (1854–1891) autobiographical nature poem which is confronted with equally emotionally charged images.” A page at lomography.de goes into a bit more technical detail: “Shot on a Lomokino camera on 35mm film stock and scanned frame by frame with a Nikon Coolscan scanner. Edited with Final Cut Pro X.”
Surprisingly, this is the very first Rimbaud piece at Moving Poems.
Demain, dès l’aube… / Dawn of Tomorrow by Victor Hugo
http://vimeo.com/65694129
Directed by Nick Ramey and Lauren Armantrout, who note in the Vimeo description:
In Victor Hugo’s famous poem, demain des l’aube, many have formulated their own adaptation of the plot. Subtitled in English, while the poem is read in French, this story involves the consequences of commitment in a relationship. The notion that love lasts forever couldn’t be further from the truth in this heartbreaking short.
Hugo’s poem has its own page on the French Wikipedia.
Common Presence by René Char
In this film by Maxime Coton, Char’s text in English translation is presented on the screen in dialogue with the translator, Nathaniel Rudavsky-Brody, who responds in the soundtrack — a novel approach to videopoetry that I haven’t seen before.
Lost at first in the crowd, a voice from the past emerges, in silence. A poem of René Char, poet and member of the resistance. Then another, younger, voice responds, filled with doubt and hope. By the glimmer of ephemeral points of light a conversation develops between these two voices, between master and disciple. Together, they evoke the necessity of creating, of rebellion, of transmission.
direction, editing, mixing : Maxime Coton
cinematography, color grading : Miléna Trivier
translation and english voice : Nathaniel Rudavsky-Brody
music : Nico Muhly
credits : Stéphan Samyna BRUITS asbl production in coproduction with CPC asbl (Anouchka Dewarichet, Annick Ghijzelings)
Renaissance cyclique / Cyclical rebirth by Marianne
http://vimeo.com/44724149/
(See also the original version without the English subtitles.) A collaboration between writer Marianne, filmmaker Dorianne Wotton and Exomène.
[O]ur three dream, disturbing and crazy worlds intersect, tangle and merge to create the spoken worms: audiovisual pieces in which each medium is strengthened to immerse the audience in their imaginary ternary.
Each artist brings his sensitivity, his approach.
There is a high complementarity between the protagonists of these creations. Round trips between writing, music and images are extremely exciting for everyone. They make the transposition of words, pictures and music spectacle in a real research and a perpetual creation.The “spoken worms” have been produced several times in Paris and we are looking for new venues in France or abroad.
To watch more of their collaborations, see the page at Marianne’s blog.
